Vol. LXXXIX No. 48 Omaha, NE
Celebrating 89 Years of Service to Nebraska and Western Iowa
10 Elul 5770
August 20, 2010
Will the Giving Pledge affect Jewish causes? by JACOB BERKMAN es a centerpiece of their giving are the exception. NEW YORK (JTA) -- The philanthropic world got a The Jews who have taken the Giving Pledge happy jolt when 40 members of the world’s wealthy elite [http://blogs.jta.org/philanthropy/] fit the stan-- including 13 Jews -- announced that they would give dard profile: All give to Jewish causes, according to a away more than half their money before they died. The participating philanthropists were responding last week to a challenge issued earlier this year by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to their billionaire peers to donate more than half of their wealth in their lifetimes. Buffett and Gates called it the Giving Pledge. But without any obvious signs of where their money will go, it’s unclear what impact this will have on Jewish nonprofits. “This pledge is a very good thing -- I want to be very clear about that -- but I remain unsure if it is a game changer for the Jewish community in particular,” said Mark Charendoff, the president of the Jewish Funders Network, an organization for givers of at least $25,000 annually to Jewish causes. Charendoff said the average Jewish billionaire gives pretty much the way Americans give. “If that is the case, then we will see money go to higher education, to health Warren Buffett, left, and Bill and Melinda Gates have challenged the world’s care and possibly to the arts,” he said, not- give away half their wealth before they die. Credit: The Giving Pledge ing a phenomenon that long has vexed the Jewish phil- reading of the 990 tax forms of their foundations and anthropic world. published reports on their giving, but those gifts constiWealthy Jews are among the most charitable mega- tute only a fraction of the tens or hundreds of millions donors per capita. More than one-third of living donors each gives away per year. who have given away more than $1 billion, according to The Jewish names on the list are Michael Bloomberg, Forbes, are Jewish. Eli and Edith Broad, Barry Diller and Diane Von But the overtly Jewish charities among their portfolios Furstenberg, Larry Ellison, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, pale in comparison to the general causes to which they George Kaiser, Lorry Lokey, Bernie and Billie Marcus, give. Mega-philanthropists who have made Jewish caus- Bernard and Barbro Osher, David M. Rubenstein, Herb
Digging in at the deli
$100 million facelift transforms Israel Museum by DINA KRAFT Museum of Modern Art in New York, whirling his JERUSALEM (JTA) – A tawny sandstone sculpture hand in the air to mimic a double helix’s shape. “The of Nimrod, an culture of the region ancient Hebrew warand the culture of the rior and hunter figworld -- they wrap ure with a razoraround each other.” straight back and The museum now proud stare, sits at stretches out on its the intersection sprawling 20-acre hillbetween modern top campus in Israeli art and native Jerusalem across from art from Africa and the Knesset as a sleek the South Pacific at and, indeed, renewed the recently renovatversion of its former ed Israel Museum. self. The 1939 sculpStreamlined and ture by Israeli artist expanded with 204,500 Yitzhak Danzinger is square feet for its an example of the refreshed collection galkind of cultural and leries, archeology, the aesthetic contextual fine arts, and Jewish art links that James and life are now easily Synder, the Israel accessible in one large Renewed galleries in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Wing for Museum director, exhibit hall designed Jewish Art and Life at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. hopes to evoke in with the guiding theme Credit: Tim Hursley, courtesy of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem the reopening of the in mind of how objects museum following a $100 million facelift he calls a and art can resonate across time and cultures. “renewal.” The archeology wing, which traces the development of “It’s like a double helix,” said Snyder, who came to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, boasts a “House of the Israel Museum in 1997 after 22 years at the Continued on page 7
Inside Op-Ed Page: see page 8
ADL to host community forum on immigration, Page 2 See Front Page Stories & More at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press’
Beth El welcomes author Rachel Shukert Page 5
and Marion Sandler, Jeff Skoll, Sanford and Joan Weill, and Shelby White. Lokey is an exception to the rule on Jewish giving. While most of his largesse has been for educational causes, a large chunk also has gone to Israeli recipients. Lokey gave $33 million to the Technion -- the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and has donated substantial sums to the Leo Baeck High School in Haifa, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Weizmann Institute and Hadassah. He also has given $80 million to Catholic schools, by his own estimate. A journalist by training who moved to public relations and then started his own business, Lokey, 83, says that he wants to make another $300 million or so from his investments before he dies. He already has pledged everything he has -- somewhere in the range of $700 million -- to a handful of charitable causes, and he told JTA the next big gifts will be to Israeli education. “I hope to make it a billion before I kick the bucket,” Lokey said. “The next $60 million or so will go to Israel.” Aside from Bernie Marcus, who has an arm of his foundation to deal with Jewish causes, and Bernard Osher, who gives billionaires to away most of his money through the San Francisco Jewish Community Endowment Fund, the Jews on the Giving Pledge list have directed the vast majority of their philanthropic dollars to general causes that are not explicitly Jewish. That would suggest that the Giving Pledge may not have a significant impact on Jewish causes. Stacy Palmer, the editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, suggested the pledge might not have such a great impact on other causes, either, since the first 40 Continued on page 2
by OZZIE NOGG The Stage Delicatessen in New York? Canter’s in L.A? The Famous in Philly? Fahgeddaboutit. The Star Deli in Omaha launched its lunch service on Friday, July 30, and reports indicate that this local nosherie can go toe to toe with the competition.
Sandwiches stand ready in the kitchen. “Opening day was a smash,” said Josh Gurock, Facilities Coordinator at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. “We served 113 meals to a flock of very appreciative customers and we anticipate even larger crowds in the future. You eat -- family style -- at large tables, the sandwiches are huge, the sides are delicious and plentiful, so what’s not to like.” Gurock’s sentiments were echoed by Shayna Ray, who enjoyed lunch along with her grandmother, Reva Oruch. “The kreplach soup is a close second to Bubbie’s,” Shayna said, “and that’s high praise.” Raw data from opening day showed the favorite entree was The Double Dip -- a bowl of matzo ball or kreplach soup with half a hot corned beef or hot Continued on page 2
Coming Next Month: Rosh Hashanah Issue Another success for CJE’s Limmud Omaha Page 6
Bedouin demolitions are raising tension in Israeli land dispute Page 12
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
August 20, 2010
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by THERESE VAUGHN-WEINER Anti-Defamation League Plains States What are the issues? What are the facts? Why should I care? What can I do? These are just a few of the topics to be explored at an upcoming community discussion on immigration. With Nebraska joining Arizona in the forefront of a national—and increasingly heated—immigration debate, ADL Plains States Region will be presenting a Community Forum on Aug. 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center. The afternoon of education and discussion will feature four panelists including Dr. Lourdes Goeveia, Director of the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies at UNO; Dr. Charles Harper, Professor of Sociology at Creighton University; Amy Peck, an immigration attorney with Peck Law Firm, LLC; and Darcy Tromanhauser, Program Director with the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest. Forging and strengthening a relationship with the Latino community in the fight against bigotry and in support of comprehensive immigration reform has been an important focus for the Anti-Defamation League for many years. Over the past decade, the ADL has joined a number of Jewish organizations in calling on policymakers to reform the current immigration system in a manner that will serve America’s security, humanitarian and economic interests. It remains a significant priority for the civil rights agency. Committed to the Jewish tradition of “welcoming the stranger” and to core American values, the ADL urges Congress to enact an effective legal immigration system characterized by rule of law, national interest and compassionate treatment. “Our mission is to secure fair treatment for all,” ADL Plains States Regional Director Alan Potash said. “This
includes reforming America’s immigration policy in a way that honors our legacy as a nation of immigrants.” The ADL also advocates for a tenor of respect and civility in public debate over the controversial issue. With recent local and state crackdowns on illegal immigration, the ADL has noted a surge in bias incidents and rhetoric toward the Latino community. The last several months have seen the passage of a divisive ordinance in Fremont to ban people from hiring, harboring and renting to illegal immigrants; the enactment of a bill to deny illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits, including prenatal care for pregnant women; and talk of a possible Arizonastyle law for Nebraska. The legislation has fueled an increase in xenophobia across the region, according to the ADL. Alarmingly, the measures have been warmly welcomed by white supremacists, militia groups and the KKK. On Internet message forums, the legislation has been used as a rallying cry for bigots across the Plains States. Planners of Aug. 29’s Community Forum hope to establish a new tone of reasoned discussion, free of bigotry and bias. “We urge the Jewish community to show up and take part in this important event,” Potash said. “Protecting our civil rights is something we can only do together.” Co-sponsors for the Forum will include B’nai B’rith Henry Monsky Lodge; Jewish Federation of Omaha; Latino American Commission; National Council of Jewish Women, Omaha Section; Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law and the Public Policy; Office of Latino/Latin American Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (OLLAS); One World Community Health Center; Temple Israel, Social Justice Committee; and Voices for Children.
Will the Giving Pledge affect Jewish causes?
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Continued from page 1 to sign on are the “usual suspects” who already have pledged away more than half their money. Lokey fits that profile. He had sold his company, Businesswire, to Buffett in 2008, so the two already were quite familiar with each other when Buffet called him. “A few weeks ago, Warren called to ask if I would be interested in making this pledge,” Lokey said. “I told him that I had already pledged and given away everything. He said, ‘Yes, that is why I want you on board.’” Other Jews on the list were in a similar position. “I know of a number of Jewish philanthropists who have already made those provisions long before Gates’ plan,” said Phyllis Cook, a philanthropic adviser to several of the Jews who have signed on to the Giving Pledge. The foundations of several of those on the list contacted by JTA confirmed that the pledge is not expected to change much about how the foundations will operate. The question for the Jewish community is how to increase the share of money Jewish givers donate to Jewish causes. Charendoff estimates that Jews gave between $4 billion
and $5 billion to Jewish-centric causes last year. If the pledge were to inspire everyone on the Forbes list of 400 top givers to give away half their wealth, he estimates that some $600 billion would go into the philanthropic world. That compares to the $300 billion or so that was given out by all Americans last year, according to GivingUSA. More than 130 of those on the Forbes 400 are Jewish. “I don’t believe that we have begun to tap the Jewish community in terms of the potential wealth that is out there,” Charendoff said. The problem is that the Jewish community still behaves as if it has a monopoly on philanthropic dollars from Jewish givers, he said. “Thirty years ago, if you were Jewish and a philanthropist and you wanted to be on a board, your realm of activity was probably going to be in the Jewish world,” Charendoff said. “Now we are competing with Carnegie Hall and the Met and Sloan Kettering. This is the big leagues, and we can’t play as if we are competing between the American Jewish Committee and the AntiDefamation League.”
Digging in at the deli Continued from page 1 pastrami sandwich. Other popular menu items were steak fries, Israeli salad and potato knishes. In the drink category, Diet Coke took first place, beating Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray 26-0. “Cel-Ray soda is a sparkling green tonic reminiscent of ginger ale but with a pungent, peppery celery flavor,” Gurock explained. “In the 1930s it was so popular among New York City’s Roger Tederman, left, and Reva Oruch grabbed the first Jewish community that it table on the Deli’s opening day. earned the nickname, ‘Jewish Champagne’. It’s still a Street is open for business hit in the Big Apple and South Florida, though admit- a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
tedly it is an acquired taste. Perhaps in time, Midwesterners will understand that Cel-Ray is the perfect compliment to fatty, deli sandwiches.” The Star Deli food comes courtesy of Mike Aparo, Laura Bair and the RBJH kitchen staff. Wait-service during opening day was efficiently handled by Gurock, Mike Silverman and other RBJH personnel. The Star Deli on Main every Friday from 11:30
August 20, 2010
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Deli and family movie – What could be better? by GARY KATZ Library Administrator Hungry for a good movie? Need a deli fix? Satisfy both urges with the popular Dinner and A Movie, featuring the award winning family film, Yankles. This popu-
Reservations required for dinner are due by Aug. 25 by calling the Kripke Jewish Federation Library at 334.6462. (USA, 2006, 115 minutes) An upstart Jewish orthodox yeshiva baseball team earns a trip to compete in the
Family favorite and winner of numerous awards including Best Comedy at the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival and Best Comedy at the International Family Film Festival. This special showing of The Yankles is made possible with the support of the Henry Monsky Lodge of B’nai B’rith. Other award winning films being presented at the Jewish Omaha Film Festival include: Saviors in the Night, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 7:30 p.m., JCC Theater
The Infidel, Thursday, Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m., JCC Theater Killing Kasztner, Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m. JCC Theater. The Jewish Film Festival is presented by The Center for Jewish Education and generously sponsored by Todd and Betiana Simon. Additional support received by The Henry Monsky Lodge of B’nai B’rith and the Avy L. and Roberta L. Miller Foundation by Lindsey MillerLerman. For more information call 334.6462. Follow us on facebook.
Solomon’s Temple replica to be built in Brazil
Official Team Photo lar annual event takes place on Sunday, Aug. 29 as part of the 97th Annual Jewish Omaha Film Festival. A delicious kosher deli dinner will be served in the JCC Auditorium beginning at 6 p.m. The film follows at 7 p.m. The price for both dinner and the movie is $23. Tickets for the film alone are $8.
College World Series. Coached by Charlie Jones, an ex-major league center fielder on parole for multiple DUI convictions, he is desperate to fulfill his court-ordered community service. While the Yankles strive for success on the field, Charlie works to rebuild his reputation and relationships, and in the process finds redemption.
by JTA NEWS STAFF (JTA) The 10,000-seat replica of the Temple, which was destroyed in 587 BCE, will be built by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, a Brazilian Pentecostal church. Bishop Eder Macedo, the church’s founder and leader, said the Temple replica will be about 413 feet high, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. The structure, designed by Brazilian architect Rogerio Silva de Araujo, will
take four years to complete, according to the Guardian. While parts of the original King Solomon’s Temple were inlaid with gold, the replica will be built of Jerusalem stone imported from Israel at a cost of $8 million. “It is going to be a knockout, it is going to be ... the most beautiful of all,” Macedo said. “The outside will be exactly the same as that which was built in Jerusalem.”
EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE The Jewish Press office is closed on Monday, Sept. 6 for Labor Day and Thursday and Friday, Sept. 9 and 10, for Rosh Hashanah; the deadline for the Sept. 17 issue is Tuesday, Sept. 7, 9 a.m. Questions? Call 334.6448.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
August 20, 2010
From cowboy hats to black hats by RUKHL SCHAECHTER NEW YORK -- Imagine the scene: Four bearded rabbis sit for hours around a table, swaying before their open volumes of the Talmud, debating whether a Jew who owns a gate tower near the entrance to his mansion is required to hang a mezuzah on it. A synagogue in Brooklyn’s Borough Park? Lakewood, N.J.? No, it’s a kollel (Talmudic institute) in Dallas. In a place where cowboys once roamed and the Reform movement has long held sway, a group of haredi Orthodox Jewish scholars has gained a foothold over the past two decades and is transforming the local Jewish community. The catalyst for change has been rabbis affiliated with the Dallas Area Torah Association, which was founded in 1992 and offers an extensive array of adult classes, including Jewish philosophy, Bible, prayer for beginners and Hebrew lessons. Its programs, most of them offered free, have become so popular that they attract thousands of students every year. Unlike the Chabad-Lubavitch Chasidim, who have become a fixture in Jewish outreach in cities around the globe, the DATA rabbis are members of the scholarshipcentered, Lithuanian-yeshiva community (also known as the yeshivahs or Litvish). This stream of hared Orthodox Judaism was founded in the 18th century as a protest against the Chasidic movement for its emphasis on mysticism and personal religious experience. Although the community’s fervent opposition to the Chasidim has since mellowed, the two groups still retain their own rabbis, schools and communal institutions. Although it is not known how many families have become Orthodox Jews since DATA was founded, Gary Weinstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, claims that hundreds of families have done so, and hundreds of others have become more active in Jewish communal life. “It’s actually a magnificent story,” said Weinstein, 57. Born and raised in Dallas, Weinstein said that when he was growing up, the city was without a kosher restaurant or eruv, an enclosure around a community to allow Orthodox Jews to carry things on the Sabbath. Today there are six kosher restaurants and two eruvs. Dallas has 10 Orthodox synagogues, three hared Orthodox yeshivas and a Modern Orthodox day school. “For us to become a mecca of the observant community is miraculous,” Weinstein said. A kollel is an institute of full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. In most haredi circles it consists of married men who receive monthly stipends for their learning. Now a new kind of institution called a community kollel has emerged in which the rabbis on staff learn Talmud for part of the day, and also teach Torah to affiliated and
unaffiliated Jews, men as well as women, through oneon-one study and large-scale outreach programs. Dallas lies in the heart of the Bible Belt, where evangelical Christians are a significant part of the culture. Seeing how seriously their Christian neighbors take their religious beliefs has encouraged some Jews to begin asking questions about their own religious heritage. Larry Kosowsky, who was raised in a Conservative Jewish home in Wisconsin, told the Forward that his interest in Orthodoxy was sparked when a friend became a born-again Christian and tried to convince him that Jesus was the Messiah. “My wife, Karen, and I just couldn’t combat his arguments,” he said. When DATA was founded, Kosowsky approached one of its rabbis, Yerachmiel Fried, about the matter. Fried gave him a book to read on the subject, and before long the Kosowskys were accepting invitations to Sabbath meals with the families of the DATA rabbis. “Eventually we kashered our house and started to keep Shabbos,” Kosowsky said. When Richard Glazer, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, lost his father in 1993, he went to a Conservative synagogue, Shearith Israel, to say Kaddish and realized how little he knew about the prayer service. “I remember thinking, if I can read Hebrew, how could I be so confused?” Glazer related, with a Texas drawl. “Then someone told me about the classes at DATA, so I started going, took a class about the Jewish calendar and a parshah class. I found the place very warm and embracing. Everyone who comes there gets lots of attention.” At DATA, the classes are coed except for the Talmud class, which is for men only, because Talmud study has historically been regarded as a man’s activity. Many of the class topics change from year to year. Rabbi Bentzi Epstein, the director of DATA, recently began a five-week course called Spirituality 101. Epstein, who also teaches the popular class “Breakneck Through the Bible,” is a native of Monsey, N.Y., which has a large haredi population. He and his wife, Batya, moved to Dallas and are two of the founders of DATA. She is the director of the local mikveh, and they are busy parents of eight children. Oscar Rosenberg, whose father was a Holocaust survivor, invited the Epsteins and other rabbis to Dallas. The younger Rosenberg had become an Orthodox Jew, as had his two brothers, and felt strongly that a kollel would benefit the Jewish community. “Rosenberg could have provided the initial seed money himself, but chose to involve the entire community in the fund raising in order to make it a community-supported institution,” Epstein said. Today there are hundreds of donors who help fund the kollel and its activities.
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Each year, the kollel organizes a retreat for families at a local hotel. In June it sent a delegation of women to Israel. Although DATA is now an integral part of the Jewish community in Dallas, it did not become that overnight. “When they first came in, they didn’t know the community dynamics, they didn’t collaborate or consult with the other Jewish institutions here, and just didn’t know how to navigate the politics, so it took years for them to gain acceptance by the mainstream,” Weinstein said. “Today they are much better at team building, and work together with the other Dallas synagogues and Jewish organizations.” Weinstein said that DATA’s most valuable contribution has been to provide Dallas Jews with its first adultcentered, communitywide institution. “In the beginning, some people questioned their motives for inviting nonobservant Jews to their classes,” he said. “They worried that they would try to ‘convert’ Conservative and Reform Jews to the Orthodox lifestyle. “It took time for them to realize that all boats rise in a high tide. One of the first things DATA teaches its students is the importance of giving, tzedakah. If the rabbis at DATA could get Jews to be more engaged in Jewish life, then everyone benefits.” Rukhl Schaechter is a writer and editor at the Forverts, where a version of this article first appeared.
IN THE NEWS The American Society for Training and Development Nebraska chapter (ASTD Nebraska) honored Julie Anne Durmaskin Wednesday morning with the unveiling of the Julie Durmaskin Professional Education Scholarship. More than $3,000 has been raised for the fund to
Michael Merritt, left, April Kassen, Amy Durmaskin, Jay Durmaskin date, and board members hope the fund will continue to grow in the coming years. The scholarship will be used to fund the continuing professional development of ASTD Nebraska members.
August 20, 2010
Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
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Beth El welcomes author Rachel Shukert by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity Coordinator Wine, cheese, books and laughs will take center stage on Sunday, Aug. 29, as Beth El welcomes former Omahan (and former congregant) Rachel Shukert, during a special book reading and discussion to be held at the synagogue. The 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. event has been planned especially for Jewish community members in their 20s and 30s (and their nearest and dearest friends). Shukert, an author, playwright and performer, is the acclaimed writer of two memoirs: Have You No Shame?: And Other Regrettable Stories, and the justpublished Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Rachel Shukert Tour. Now a resident of New York City, Shukert received a fine arts degree from the Tisch School of Performing Arts. In addition to serving as a contributing editor at Tablet magazine, her work has been featured in publications including Slate, the Daily Beast, and Salon; she has also been profiled on National Public Radio. During her upcoming visit to Beth El, Shukert plans to read excerpts from her new book and participate in a question-and-answer session with audience members. Coming home to speak at the synagogue where she grew up “feels great; I’m very proud and flattered to be asked.” she said. “It’s funny to be in a situation where you are so used to feeling like a child. Anytime I go to Beth El, my parents are there and it’s a childhood place, so it’s weird to have that place and my professional life converge. I’m looking forward to it.” Shukert’s writing has been applauded for its sharp wit and laugh-out-loud quality; among those who sing her praises are Diablo Cody, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of the movie, Juno, who is quoted as saying, “Rachel Shukert’s memoir is more than just ‘girl-goneoverseas’; it’s a hilarious, brave and surprisingly piercing work of art”; and a review in Nylon magazine, which stated, “[Shukert’s] wit is pitch-perfect and amusingly self-conscious….The story itself spans continents, but the consistency with which Shukert perceives everything anchors and enlivens wherever her antics land her.” Shukert knew she wanted her second book be a followup to her first memoir. In fact, Everything Is Going to Be
Great -- which chronicles her mishaps and adventures during a journey through Europe -- was originally slated as an essay in Have You No Shame; but then the author realized that “there was so much, too much for just one 25-page chapter ... it could really be its own thing. I also felt that the actual experience of it had a very nice narrative arc – it had a beginning, middle and end, the way that a novel could work, and I liked the idea of doing a memoir of this finite-focus period of time.” At first she planned the book to consist of short essays which would be separate from one another, but then changed her mind during the writing process. “I realized as I began writing it that I wanted it to have a straight-through narrative and be a story that people could follow and be invested in throughout.” Over the years, it has become fashionable for memoirs to devolve into mean-spirited tell-alls; however, such spitefulness will never be found in Shukert’s musings. “I wouldn’t ever write about something that someone in my family would feel was a betrayal -- some kind of family secret or something that someone was really ashamed of. I’m not interested in revealing other people’s secrets. I feel that the person who always comes off the worst in my writing is me; I have the biggest hand in being brutal to myself. “The most essential part of a memoir,” she continued, “is that you have to like the writer. You can’t feel as if the book is being written as an act of revenge or an act of cruelty, or that the narrator is being accusatory toward other people and not turning that same eye back on themselves. I feel that that’s what people react to badly in a memoir -- it’s really insulting and unnecessary and cruel.” Shukert currently has several projects in the works, including a series of young-adult novels, and another novel whose plot she wouldn’t reveal, except to say that “It’s going to be set in Berlin, in the recent past – about seven years ago. It will have a Jewish angle.” There are no more memoirs planned at this time: “Your life stops being interesting to write about once your career begins. What am I going to write about? Writing books and doing readings and interviews?” Chairmen for Shukert’s upcoming Beth El program are Jaime and Brian Nogg, and Melissa and Matt Shapiro. The entire community is invited to attend, at no charge. Reservations are requested, and may be made by contacting Melissa at: smallshap@aol.com, or 614.6571; or Jaime, at jgoldf5375@aol.com, or 991.6753. Editor’s note: Rachel Shukert will also appear at the Bookworm on August 28, at 2 pm.
bnaibrith@jewishomaha.org. LOMIR REDN YIDDISH Yiddish words have made their way into every phase of modern life, show biz, law, classrooms, etc. Come join us at our new meeting room (across from the beauty salon) at the Blumkin Home, every Thurdsay, 1-3 pm. For information, call Anne Skolkin at 343.1638.
Stadium on NETV ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Rosenblatt by LARRY KUBERT A Contest Fiddling Workshop for fiddlers who want to compete in fiddle contests is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 11, from 1-3 p.m., in The Old Avoca Schoolhouse, in picturesque Avoca, Nebraska. This will be a wonderful opportunity for fiddlers of all ages to learn to choose appropriate tunes, work with their backup players, and to communicate with an audience. Participants should prepare a tune or two to play for their fellow fiddlers. Memorization is optional. Pre-registration for the workshop is required. The fee for the Contest Fiddling Workshop is $20.00 per fiddler. For more information, call 402.275.3221, or e-mail debby@greenblatt andseay.com. Auditions for 60 children’s roles in this December’s production of The Nutcracker will be held on Friday, Oct. 8, 4-8:30 p.m. at the Cassling Education Center of the Holland Performing Arts Center, 13th and Douglas streets, Omaha. More than 100 youth are expected to be cast in the production as some roles will be double cast. Information regarding the auditions can be found at www.balletnebraska.org. Those wishing to audition must pre-register by calling the Rose Theater, 402.345.4849.
Originally called the Omaha Municipal Stadium when it was built in 1947, but renamed in 1964 to honor former Omaha mayor Johnny Rosenblatt, the stadium served as the host ballpark for the single-A Omaha Cardinals’ 1948 season and became the home to the College World Series in 1950. NET Television is currently in the production phase of a heartfelt documentary on the stadium. A program that goes beyond the superficial and explores not only the history of Rosenblatt, but the people and players associated with the ballpark and the effect the stadium has had on Omaha and Nebraska. Scheduled for completion in Spring/Summer 2011, “Rosenblatt: The Final Inning” is an inclusive documentary taking a comprehensive new look at the structure. NET Television is looking for assistance in preserving the memories of Rosenblatt. Producers are asking for pictures, video, film or memorabilia from years past at Rosenblatt – whether from College World Series, Royals, Huskers or Bluejays games – or something completely different associated with the ballpark. All materials will be returned. For more information about offering to loan memorabilia, contact Sue Maryott smaryott@netnebraska.org 402.472.9333 ext. 285.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
August 20, 2010
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by MARY SUE GROSSMAN the poetry of Jerusalem, the duality of Jerusalem, prayer, Director of Operations & Programming, Center of Jewish Education Israel’s wars, transportation, archaeology and Jerusalem The Center for Jewish Education started its program- in the Bible. Session presenters included Susan ming year with the 5th Annual “Limmud Omaha: A Day Aizenberg, Dr. Moshe Gershovich, Dr. Leonard of Learning” on Sunday, Greenspoon, Rabbi Aug. 15. The afternoon of Jonathan Gross, Rabbi Eric learning keyed on the Linder, Dr. Guy Matalon, theme, “Yerushalyim HaMarty Shukert and Dr. Rosenbaum. benuyah – Jerusalem, Built The day concluded with a and Rebuilt: Archaeology, wrap-up session led by Dr. History, and Politics in the Rosenbaum and Dr. City of Gold.” Greenspoon. During the The keynote address was session, Dr. Rosenbaum given by former Omahan, commented “It has been Dr. Jonathan Rosenbaum such a delight to be in and was titled “Jerusalem, Omaha again. Susan, our Built and Rebuilt: Archaeology, History and Long time friends Jean Duitch, Susan Rosenberg, and Carol children and I still consider Omaha home.” He added Politics in the City of Parsow at Limmud Gold.” Dr. Rosenbaum’s excellent presentation was an “When talking about Jewish communities, we always point to Omaha as a great community model from outstanding start to the afternoon. Two breakout sessions highlighted the afternoon, with which others could learn many lessons.” “Limmud Omaha” was presented by the Center for participants choosing between four presenters during each session. A typical comment was “It’s so difficult to Jewish Education and sponsored with generous support choose just one!” Topics included the Temple Mount, of the Philip E. & Ethel Klutznick Fund.
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by JTA NEWSSTAFF JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A 2,200-year-old coin discovered near Israel’s border with Lebanon is the heaviest gold coin ever found in Israel. The coin was discovered in late June at the Tel Kedesh archeological dig site near the border with Lebanon by a team of American archeologists, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Thursday. The archeologists were from the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. At one ounce, the coin weighs six times more than
previous coins found from the same era. It bears the name and image of the wife of Ptolemy II, Arsinoe II Philadelphus. “This extraordinary coin was apparently not in popular or commercial use, but had a symbolic function,” said Donald Ariel, head of the Coin Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority. A cult was established in honor of the queen, who was the sister of the king. The coin was minted 80 years after her death. Ariel said the image on the coin also could be that of Cleopatra I, who married Ptolemy V.
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Miriam and Rabbi Jonathan Gross announce the August 5 birth of their daugher, Raya Liba. Grandparents are Sandy and David Gross, and Aaron and Shoshana Shamberg. Tziporah and Max Marcovitz of Jerusalem, Israel announce the June 24 birth of their son, Nachum Marcovitz. He is named for Rabbi Nachum Partzovits, the late Rosh Yeshiva of Mir Yeshiva Grandparents are Mimi Rogers and Scott Farkas. Great-grandparents are Elaine and Ronald Marcovitz of Del Ray Beach, FL and Freda Marcovitz of Randolph, MA.
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Page 7
Facelift transforms Israel Museum Continued from page 1 “The museum’s view had been a little bit that we are erous friends associations abroad, has acquired a David” -- an inscription from the ninth century BCE many museums under one roof, and I kept saying what’s 500,000-piece collection. Along with its Judaica and seen as part of a monumental stone. It’s considered the amazing about this place is to find this breadth in one fine arts holdings, the museum long has been known for earliest source backing archeological evidence that its outstanding regional archeology holdings. A major there was a dynasty sprung from King David in the showcase has always been the Dead Sea Scrolls, which Land of Israel. On display for the first time anywhere is are housed in their own building. a rare Crusader-era fresco that was on the wall of a More than $80 million of the renewal project was 12th century Jerusalem abbey. raised privately in Israel and around the world through Fewer holdings are now on display amid almost twice individuals, families and foundations. Another $17.5 the space. And there is no more trekking up a long million came from the Israeli government. pathway exposed to a broiling Jerusalem sun by sumDefending critics of the museum’s “universalist” mer or the cold winds and rains of winter. Visitors to approach, Synder says, “How can you avoid it? Look the country’s largest cultural institution now reach the where we are -- in Jerusalem, at the crossroads of the museum through an enclosed underground passage ancient world, where Europe meets Asia meets Africa featuring a translucent glass wall on one side. and where monotheism happened. So if not here, At the highest point on the museum’s outdoor where?” grounds is a gleaming 16-foot-tall stainless steel sculpThe Jewish art and life gallery is designed to provide ture in the shape of an hourglass specially commisa view of Jewish life from the Middle Ages to the modsioned for the museum’s reopening. Titled “Turning ern day showing both its secular and sacred dimenthe World Upside Down, Jerusalem,” the work by the Above: Daytime view of the new main entry at The Israel Museum sions. A highlight is a new synagogue route, which has renowned India-born artist Anish Kapoor reflects, in Jerusalem, including the entry/ticketing pavilion, left, and retail the interiors of four synagogues, including ones from pavilion, right. Below: The renewed Upper Entrance Hall at the Germany, Italy and India. The most spectacular of all is upside down, the city’s skies and landscape. “Jerusalem is all about a very special relationship Israel Museum, featuring highlights from the contemporary art a newly restored 18th century synagogue from between the ground and the sky. This work attempts to collection. Suriname, a tiny South American country north of Credit: Tim Hursley, courtesy of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem Brazil whose Jewish community, of Spanish and bring the two together,” Kapoor said, describing the sculpture to the Calcutta Telegraph. Portuguese origin, took root there a century before. Asked how he completed the massive undertaking of In the 1990s, with the Suriname Jewish community overhauling the museum both on schedule (three rapidly disappearing and the synagogue no longer years) and on budget in a country where such feats functioning, the Israel Museum acquired the synararely happen, Synder answered, “Singlemindedness.” gogue and brought its interior -- white walls, large It was Teddy Kollek, also known for having a driving windows and sand-coated floor -- and contents to vision, who came up with the vision of the Israel Jerusalem. Museum back in the 1950s. It was a time when most Upstairs on the upper entrance hall of the fine arts people in the fledgling state were focused on survival, wing, a much different image looms. It’s a towering not cultivating a world-class collection of art and sculpture of an African refugee boy in Israel made from archeology. Styrofoam and painted black. Israeli artist Ohad Under Kollek’s guidance, the museum was opened in Meromi’s 2001 “The Boy from South Tel Aviv” stands 1965, the same year he became mayor of Jerusalem, in front of a painting of different colored polka dots by with modernist architecture designed by Alfred renowned English artist Damien Hirst. Mansfeld and Dora Gad. Under Snyder’s direction, the Snyder thinks the sculpture of this underclass boy with original architectural sensibility was preserved as much a sense of majesty about him, as he describes it, has as possible by the architects leading the projects, James found its perfect home surrounded by the Hirst piece Carpenter Design Associates of New York and Efratand others nearby that draw from African and Kowalksy Architects of Tel Aviv. European themes. “The point of our project is not about new architec“It’s all about cultural synthesis in contemporary culture and re-engineering in the building,” Synder said in museum,” said Synder, an immaculate dresser who ture,” he said, his face breaking into a smile. an interview with JTA in his sunny office. “The point stands out in scrappy Israel with his rounded orange Then, adding what might be true for the renewed wanted to be about changing the way you present con- glasses, tie and blazer. Israel Museum as a whole, Snyder says, “I hope we can tent.” Over the years the museum, which has active and gen- keep it up.”
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
August 20, 2010
Good Intentions
by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Editor of the Jewish Press Max Papeschi is an Italian visual artist, whose latest show has a good chunk of Europe in a bit of an uproar. Although his website confidently states that “his approach was an immediate success among the critics and the public”, the reality is that Papeschi is only attractive to a certain section of the public. His latest show, titled Politically Incorrect, consists of super-realistic images, displaying iconic white rabbits, Disney characters, and fast food mascots against a backdrop of violence. Nuclear explosions in Alice in Wonderland settings, Ronald MacDonald welcomes visitors to Auschwitz, and Mickey Mouse dresses up as Hitler. It’s an operation of shock and awe, supposed to show the ‘horrors of the American lifestyle’. Is it art? That depends on how one defines that. (No, I am not including images – if you’re curious, you can Google him) In the Polish city of Poznan, where Papeschi is currently showing his work, the art gallery announced the event with a larger-than-life poster. It depicts Mickey and a nude woman against a swastika backdrop. Yikes. The locals weren’t happy, and for good reason: “The reaction shows that there is little appetite in Poland for satirical or artistic uses of images linked to Nazi Germany, which invaded Poland in 1939 and built ghettoes and death camps across the country in which millions were murdered.” (Ynet.com) Prosecutors in Poland have deemed the poster ‘art’; according to them, it does not violate Poland’s laws against glorifying Nazism, Ynet.com further reports. After having been vandalized several times, the poster was taken down, albeit temporarily. Gallery Director Maria Czarnecka says: “Art should be provocative and controversial. The poster does
not seek to propagate Nazism, but instead wants to explore symbols. The Mickey Mouse head and swastika are on the same level – they don’t mean anything. They are both part of the globalized world.” They don’t mean anything? I think even the artist himself would disagree. I think he chose to use these images because they mean quite a lot to a great many people. Dressing an image that is comforting to many people, such as Donald Duck (who ever doesn’t like Donald?) in army fatigues, Mickey Mouse done up like a Nazi, Ronald McDonald holding a machine gun: they are meant to lose their reassuring effect and change into a nightmare, according to Papeschi. I get it: he’s trying to say that large corporations are destroying the fabric of society; our innocence has been corrupted, and so forth and so on. Criticizing modern civilization by highlighting the dangers of capitalism, portraying the Ronald McDonalds among us as the enemy is not necessarily new. The use of the swastika, on the other hand – although not unprecedented in modern art- is disturbing, because Papeschi doesn’t know how to limit himself. Do it once, and you make a point. Do it 30 times in the same exhibit, and people start to get worried. Maybe his intentions are noble; maybe he’s just looking to cause a riot, get people upset so they’ll pay attention. I think the use of nazi imagery is excessive, I think it needlessly beats people over the
head with what they already know. On the other hand: we all make mistakes. (Case in point: in the August 6 edition of the Jewish Press, I wrote what I thought was a nice bit of fluff. It dealt with politicians, a wedding dress, and really expensive port-a-potties. However, somewhere along the way, I left some doubt as to what my intentions were. Some people read the article to mean I was promoting intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews. That was not my intention. The experience has taught me two things: I should weigh my words more carefully, and I shouldn’t write fluff. Far be it from me to tell anyone who they should marry, be they Jewish, not Jewish, or a Clinton.) Words, just like images, can do that: you think you’re being completely clear, and then it turns out you’re leaving it all up for interpretation. “That’s not what I meant” is a defense we have all, I’m sure, used at times. Sometimes it’s an acceptable excuse; sometimes it’s just a cop-out.
BEHIND THE H EADLINES by ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN National Director of the ADL Editors note: This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post on August 2, 2010. Perhaps no issue in recent memory has aroused as much controversy and passion as the proposed Islamic community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero. Those passions came to a head as the blogosphere reacted, mostly in a headlong rush to judgment, over the recommendation by the AntiDefamation League that New York City would be better served if an alternative location could be found. The reaction was immediate, and in most cases we were maligned, and our position was mischaracterized and deeply misunderstood. The main charge was that an anti-bigotry organization had joined with the bigots. That false accusation was extremely painful and served to diminish and obscure the fact that our position on the Islamic center was carefully considered, clearly stated and consistent with our values and mission. There are legitimate differences of opinion regarding the building of an Islamic cultural center at Ground Zero. To us, after much discussion and debate it became clear that the overriding concern should be the sensitivities of the families of the victims that dictated finding another location for this massive, $100 million project. At its essence, our position is about sensitivity. Everyone -- victims, opponents and proponents alike -- must pay attention to the sensi-
Jewish Press Board Andy Ruback, Vice President; Eric Dunning, Treasurer; Howard K. Marcus, Past President; Daphne Pollak Alperson, Marc Brodkey; Phyllis Brown; Jason Epstein; Mel Epstein; Scott Farkas; Andie Gordman; Michael Kaufman; Bette Kozlen; Jamie Meyerson; Michael Sigmond; Jim Simon; Dorothy Spizman; Nancy Wolf. The role of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to involve Jews in meeting Jewish communal needs locally, nationally and in Israel. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service/Jewish Senior Services, and the Jewish Press . Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment. Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in .TIF or .PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org.
The Mosque at Ground Zero tivities involved without giving in to appeals to, or accusations of, bigotry. Ultimately, this was not a question of rights, but a question of what is right. In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center would unnecessarily cause some victims more pain. And that wasn’t right. Having made our decision known, we expected disagreement and criticism from some quarters. What has been so disheartening, however, has been the nature of that criticism. Two kinds of attacks have been particularly troubling: that we are violating principles of religious freedom, and that we are stereotyping Muslims. These criticisms simply ignore ADL’s record in dealing with such matters, particularly in the post-9/11 climate. Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Muslims were being stereotyped and in some cases individual Muslims or Muslim institutions were attacked. ADL took the lead in not standing idly by. We took out ads in The New York Times and other newspapers with the headline, “Don’t Fight Hate with Hate.” Our message was that a terrible event occurred on 9/11, a national tragedy brought on by hate, but the way to deal with it was to fight the terrorists, and not to stereotype and hate individual Muslims. Similarly, when two mosques in Dallas were targets of shooting, ADL’s director in Dallas organized a press conference featuring the imam of one of the mosques, a Baptist minister and himself to speak together against this dangerous and inappropriate reaction to the 9/11 horror. When a Muslim congressman was condemned by some for taking the oath of office on a Koran instead of a Bible, ADL was quick to defend his right to that option.
(Founded in 1920) Bobbi Leibowitz President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Managing Editor Allan Handleman Advertising Manager Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Kirkpatrick Bookkeeper Emily Giller Press Intern
In Ohio, in 2002, ADL called upon Cuyahoga County corrections officials to reverse their decision not to permit Muslim women to wear their hijab in the courtroom. In 2006, ADL condemned remarks by a member of Congress depicting Muslims in a stereotypical way. And there are many more examples in recent years of ADL’s voice standing out against antiMuslim bigotry. Indeed, ADL supports the building of mosques, like churches and synagogues, just about anywhere in the country. That is a religious freedom perspective. And when French government officials sought to bar the wearing by Muslims of religious facial garments, ADL spoke out to defend the right of Muslims to wear traditional clothing and participate as full members of society. Not to mention ADL’s day-to-day work across this country in fighting hate crimes, which affect Muslims, and in teaching about respect and tolerance for difference in schools, workplaces and federal institutions. All in all, we have established ourselves as leaders in promoting pluralism and fighting against bigotry, particularly against Muslims in the difficult post-9/11 period. Critics should consider that context and credibility before reacting to ADL’s position. Clearly we would not take a position to limit religious freedom. Clearly we would never take a position that would stereotype Muslims. However, we also must take into consideration the feelings of the families who lost loved ones at Ground Zero. The lessons of an earlier and different controversy echo in this one. In 1993, Pope John Paul II asked 14 Carmelite Nuns to move their convent from just outside the Auschwitz death Continued on page 9
Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1-402-334-5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewish omaha.org.. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions, but it should be printed as soon as possible to ensure timeliness. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer, but the name can be withheld at the writer’s request. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $35 per calendar year U.S.; $72 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha. org.
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August 20, 2010
Saying goodbye…for now by EMILY GILLER Saying goodbye is never easy to do, especially when you have to let go of the things that meant so much to you. It’s easy to get so immersed in something that you don’t even realize its impact on your life until it’s suddenly gone. However, once it’s gone, a person can appreciate what he or she had instead of dwelling over what was lost. For me, I must say goodbye to a job that has left me with something other than a few paychecks. It has left me with experience and much more. Eighty-six workdays, over 15 stories, one amazing Maccabi experience and a countless number of memories are what I am left with as the summer draws to an end, and I owe it all to the Jewish Press. I found out last February that I had received a summer internship at the Press. When several of my journalism professors asked me if I needed help finding a summer internship I gleamed at them as I delightedly said “no, I already have a summer internship at the Omaha Jewish Press.” They gleamed back at me and said, “that’s great, but what is the Jewish Press?” Little did my professors know, the Jewish Press is the greatest paper that any student could work for. Although small, the Press gave me the opportunity to write, edit, take photos, and much more. I was able to write editorials and interview politicians. Some of my friends who have internships at other papers were limited in what they were allowed to do, whereas for me, the
Press had me write front-page stories. I also was able to participate in one of the biggest teen events to hit Omaha since 2002: the JCC Maccabi Games. Although most people outside the Jewish community didn’t understand what the Maccabi Games were, being a part of an event like that was one of the greatest opportunities I have ever encountered. I was able to help run a new program for Maccabi known as the “Star Reporters program,” where I helped 12 teenagers cover and report on the Games throughout the week. This job not only developed my leadership skills through Maccabi, but also helped me to grow and learn as a journalist. Despite the numerous hours spent sitting in front of my computer typing and the lack of sleep, this job has given me the chance to learn and reconnect with the Omaha Jewish community. After two months of writing, I have mastered the art of spewing out stories at a moments notice, however, this story is hard for me. This is my “farewell” to the Press. A goodbye before summer ends and school starts up again. However, goodbye seems too formal, too permanent and that’s not what this is. When you care about something you never actually leave it behind because the experiences and memories you obtain remain with you forever. So, goodbye to the Jewish Press for now, but definitely not forever.
An open invitation to Chelsea and Marc
BEHIND THE H EADLINES by HAYIM HERRING NEW YORK (JTA) -- I do not know Marc Mezvinsky, Chelsea Clinton or any members of their families. But I am puzzled by the vast amounts of digital deliberations in the Jewish blogosphere about their wedding, and the absence of more attention to their ongoing relationship with the Jewish community now that they have married. If I did know them, here is what I would say: Dear Marc and Chelsea, Mazel tov! After all of the speculation about your wedding, you are now legally married. How you managed to maintain your privacy and dignity with such public families is remarkable! While some are still obsessing about the details of your wedding, I am much more interested in what the future holds for you as a married couple. A wedding is one of the most significant moments that you will experience, but your love for one another will hopefully last for a lifetime. Both of you, in a public and proud way, drew upon the symbols of your respective faith traditions. I don’t presume to know what conversations you’ve had or decisions you’ve made about involvement in a religious community. But I hope that you will want to explore participation in some aspect of your local Jewish community and respectfully want to invite you to do so. You have most likely felt the embrace of the Jewish community on many previous occasions. Now that you
have crossed a threshold in your relationship, I want to reaffirm that welcome to you as a married couple. I believe that I am also giving voice to a good number of those who work and volunteer in the Jewish community or support it in other ways. Whether or not you choose to have children, I hope that you will identify as a Jewish family and participate actively in some part of your local Jewish community. I can’t promise that you will always feel warmly embraced by all segments of the Jewish community, but I trust that you will be by many. Life’s struggles are made more bearable and life’s joys are magnified when they occur within the context of a community. And as you’ve come to appreciate, while Jewish tradition does not have a monopoly on wisdom about what it means to live a fully human life as individuals and as a couple, it does have thousands of years of experience and practice. Your relationship with the Jewish community won’t be a one-way street. The richness that you derive from it will be replenished by the time and energy that you give to it. I know that people like you, who have high aspirations for our world, help our community increase its collective impact. I want you to know that I am not writing to you because of your family celebrity. Rather, I’m sending this message because I believe the Jewish community should find ways to support couples who care about the Jewish quotient of their relationship. With Blessings, Rabbi Hayim Herring Rabbi Hayim Herring is president and CEO of Herring Consulting Network, a firm that specializes in “preparing today’s leaders for tomorrow’s organizations.”
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Page 9
LETTER TO THE EDITOR The hallways of the JCC now seem so quiet without the bustling of the 1,000 teenagers who were here as part of the JCC Maccabi Games. I have to say that I was very impressed with the many teenagers whom I encountered during their six-day stay in Omaha. Even in the crowded halls I noticed so many of them being polite and being grateful to the community for hosting them. There is one area, however, that I believe needs to be addressed. As I watched the girls gathering and having fun, I could not help but notice the way in which the majority of them were dressed. Shorts seemed to cover not much more than “two cheeks,” midriffs were exposed, and necklines were plunging. What I found more alarming was that upon second glance, I realized that in some cases the girls were actually wearing their sporting uniforms making it clear that it was not just the teenage girls who decided to dress this way, but it was endorsed by the adults who organized the games for their teams. I recognize that modesty is not solely about hemlines and necklines, but that one’s behavior plays a strong role as well. I also do not wish to advocate that everybody dress the same, and I believe that our clothes serve as a form of expression of who we are. Nevertheless, I do fear that the wonderful inner-beauty of these girls may get overshadowed by their clearly provocative choices in clothing. When thinking back to the “Maccabis” of Jewish History they were the righteous Jews of the Chanukah story who stood up against the Hellenist Greeks. The Greeks “worshipped” physical beauty and engaged in sporting competitions to show off nothing more than the greatness of the human form. The ancient Maccabis on the other hand believed in the “Tzelem Elohim – likeness to God” of each person and the holiness that is within each of us. Promoting a change in the way that our young ladies dress will be a true testament to our ancestors the Maccabis who fought to ensure that outer beauty would never take precedence over that which lies within. Sincerely, Ilana Weiss
Mosque at Ground Zero Continued from page 8 camp. The establishment of the convent near Auschwitz had stirred dismay among Jewish groups and survivors who felt that the location was an affront and a terrible disservice to the memory of millions of Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis in the Holocaust. Just as we thought then that well-meaning efforts by Carmelite nuns to build a Catholic structure were insensitive and counterproductive to reconciliation, so too we believe it will be with building a mosque so close to Ground Zero. The better way for Muslims seeking reconciliation and moderation would have been for them to reach out to the families of the victims, who we are sure could have recommended any number of actions to achieve those goals other than the present plan. To make this a test of whether one supports religious freedom or is stereotyping Muslims is to engage in demagoguery. Good people can differ as to what should happen, without falsely being accused of abandoning their principles. Abraham H. Foxman, a Holocaust survivor, is National Director of the Anti-Defamation League.
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
August 20, 2010
Candlelighting Friday, August 20, 7:58 p.m.
Synagogue Listings B’nai Israel Synagogue 618 Mynster St. Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com
Beth El Synagogue Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California Omaha, NE 68154-1980 492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org
Beth Israel Synagogue Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific St. Omaha, NE. 68154 556.6288 BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org
Chabad House An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 S. 120th St. Omaha, NE 68144-1646 330.1800 www.OChabad.com email: chabad@aol.com
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun South Street Temple Union for Reform Judaism 2061 S. 20th St. Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 435.8004 southstreettemple.org
Offutt Air Force Base SAC Memorial Chapel 301 Lincoln Highway Offutt AFB, NE 68113 294.6244
Rose Blumkin Jewish Home 323 S. 132 St. Omaha, NE 68154
Temple Israel Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 7023 Cass Street Omaha, NE 68132-2651 556.6536 templeisrael-ne.org
The Neighborhood Prayer Group 1317 No. 57 St. Omaha, NE 68132 551.6609
Tifereth Israel Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org
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B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE FRIDAY: Services followed by Oneg, 7:30 p.m.
BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Services conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Levin and Cantor Beth Schlossberg. FRIDAY: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat service, 6 p.m. led this week by Stan Mitchell. SATURDAY: Morning service, 9:30 a.m.; Kiddush sponsored by Margo and Steve Riekes, in honor of their 45th wedding anniversary and Steve’s birthday; Minha/ Ma’ariv, 8:05 p.m. SHABBAT TUNES & TALES: Saturday, 11:15 a.m.-11:45 a.m., an educational program of Shabbat music and fun for the preschoolers and their favorite adult, led by “Miss Patty” Nogg. No RSVP is necessary. WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY: Bible Study Discussion Group, 10 a.m. RABBI’S HIGH HOLIDAYS CLASS: Finding Personal Meaning in the High Holidays Liturgy will be presented by Rabbi Levin on Sunday, Aug. 22, 11 a.m.noon. During the class, he will explore the new prayer book, Mahzor Lev Shalem, which will be used during High Holidays services. No charge to attend. To RSVP, contact Margie in the synagogue office. THURSDAY: CSA pick-up for shareholders, 4:30 p.m. at the synagogue. MONTHLY SHABBAT BIRTHDAY BLESSING: Friday, Aug. 27, 6 p.m. At Kabbalat Shabbat on the last Friday of each month, we honor everyone who has celebrated a birthday that month with a special blessing and reception. Come, enjoy and bring the family! RACHEL SHUKERT BOOK EVENT: On Sunday, Aug. 29, 4:30-6 p.m., Beth El will sponsor a special event for 20s, 30s and
Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. FRIDAY: Service, 7 a.m. SATURDAY: Shabbat Minyan, 10 a.m.; Youth Minyan, 10:30 a.m. Mini-Mensch title will be awarded. Kiddush lunch follows. Join Rabbi Katzman from 12-1 p.m.; W.O.W. Parsha, Prophets, and Prayer, 12:45 p.m. SUNDAY: Service, 8:30 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Services, 7 a.m. THURSDAY: The Parsha Club for Level I beginners, ages 5-6; and Level II intermediates and experts, ages 7-9, 3:50 p.m. Please contact Shevi@ochabad.com with any questions or to receive a guest pass. All programs are open to the entire community.
BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE
CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN
Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Fri., 8:30 a.m-2 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross and Rabbi Yitzchak Mizrahi. FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; free babysitting, 9:30 a.m.; Children’s Classes, 9:45 a.m. with Torah Parade; Kiddush by Sisterhood; “Guard Your Tongue,” “The Great Midrash” and “Advanced Parshah Study for Kids” (ages 10 and up), one hour prior to Mincha every Shabbat; Mincha, 7:45 p.m. followed by Seuda Shlishit; Havdalah, 8:58 p.m. SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m. WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m. TUESDAY: Rabbi Mizrahi’s Weekly Class, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Rabbi Weiss’s Weekly Class, 7:30 p.m.; Advanced Halacha Kollel, 9 p.m. Follow the Kollel at www.omaha kollel.blogspot.com. THURSDAY: Women of the Torah class, 9:30 a.m.; Rabbis Around the World, 7:30 p.m.
Rachel Rose Stoneking, daughter of Cindy and Brian Stoneking, will become a Bat Mitzvah on
Services conducted by Rabbi Ilan Emanuel. FRIDAY: Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. led by Rabbi Emanuel, with oneg following. SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. all led by Rabbi Emanuel; Game Night/Potluck, 6 p.m. Questions? Please contact Deborah Swearingen at devra60 @gmail.com. THURSDAY: Choir Rehearsal, 7:30-9 p.m. Annual Back-to-School Supplies Drive: During the month of August, the Social Action Committee is collecting school supplies to donate to Saratoga Elementary School. Bring your items to the stage area of the Social Hall. Thank you for helping the children in our neighborhood!
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m.
ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME FRIDAY: Baking with Beth Israel members, 1 p.m.; Kabbalat
Shabbat, 6 p.m. led by Nancy Rips and Andy Greenberg. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Alan Shulewitz. THURSDAY: LOVE Board Meeting, 7 p.m.
TEMPLE ISRAEL FRIDAY: Shabbat Service, Preparing for Elul, 6 p.m. led by Cantor Wendy Shermet. SATURDAY: Sparks Beneath the Surface, 9:15 a.m.; Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Sahylie Hollst, daughter of Kerry and Mike Hollst, will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. SUNDAY: Kol Rina Rehearsal, 1 p.m. TUESDAY: Kol Rina Rehearsal, 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY: CSA delivery for shareholders, 4:30 p.m. at South entrance. Tot Shabbat and Dinner, Friday, Aug. 27, 6 p.m. Enjoy music, prayer and dinner with your children. Please contact the Temple Israel office, 556.6536 or mkube @templeisraelomaha.com, to make a dinner reservation. The cost is $5 for adults and no charge for children.
NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER GROUP FRIDAY: Minyan, 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m.
TIFERETH ISRAEL Services conducted by lay leader Nancy Coren. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. FRIDAY: Services, 6:30 p.m. SATURDAY: Bat Mitzvah of Zoe Watch during Morning service, 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush luncheon and Talmud study. Join us Friday, Aug. 27, 6 p.m. for a new member Shabbat on the Green. Dinner is at 6 p.m. and Kabbalat services begin outside at 7 p.m. Hot dogs and sides will be served. Please RSVP to the synagogue.
Study: Mental health needs of Orthodox Jews are not being met
BAT MITZVAH Alexandra Pichik, daughter of Shelley and Mike Pichik, will become a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Aug. 28, at Beth El. Alex is an eighth-grade honor student at Kiewit Middle School. Her interests include pottery, sculpting, photography, reading and poetry. For her mitzvah project, Alex is volunteering at Jewish Family Services. She has a sister, Natalie. Grandparents are Ozzie and Don Nogg, Mary and Pete Pichik.
CHABAD HOUSE
40s, featuring author Rachel Shukert who will share stories from her new book, Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Under-funded and Overexposed European Grand Tour. No charge to attend, but please RSVP to chairmen Jaime and Brian Nogg, 991.6753; or to Melissa and Matt Shapiro, 614.6571. BESTT BACK-TO-SCHOOL: BESTT classes for grades pre-K-7 begin Sunday, Aug. 29, 10 a.m.–noon. All families (pre-K12) are invited to a special Backto-School Bash on Monday, Aug. 30, 6:15-8:30 p.m. Dinner is complimentary but reservations are required by Aug. 25. Food, fun, games and camaraderie for all. All Beth El classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.
Saturday Aug. 28 at Temple Israel. Rachel is an eighthgrade honor roll student at Kiewit m i d d l e school. Her interests include softball, singing, and spending time with her dog Piper. For her mitzvah project, Rachel volunteered at the Town and Country animal shelter, and made blankets for children with cancer. Grandparents are Linda Siref Simons and Ronald Simons, Jean and the late Ralph Stoneking. Great-grandparents are Sylvia Davis, the late Harry Siref, the late Irving Davis, and Linea and the late Amos Meeks. She is named after her great-great grandmother, the late Rose Goldstein.
by JTA NEWS STAFF NEW YORK (JTA) -- The mental health needs of the Orthodox community are not being sufficiently addressed, according to a new study from Yeshiva University. The service gaps are particularly pronounced in the haredi Orthodox and Chasidic communities, according to the study. Eliezer Schnall, a YU psychology professor who led the research team, was to present his findings Aug. 13 in San Diego at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association. Researchers asked approximately 250 Orthodox mental health professionals to assess the state of services offered to the Orthodox community today, compared to 25 years ago. The 100 respondents perceived little if any improvement, particularly among
the Chasidim. Schnall called the results a “wake-up call,” and said there is still a stigma in the Orthodox community attached to mental illness that prevents people from seeking help. An additional factor impeding good mental health services is their cost, he said. The study showed that the most common problem for which Orthodox Jews seek mental health services is marital difficulties. More services for children and teenagers are needed, and there is a lack of services for substance abuse problems, the report found. Most respondents said few of their patients were referred by their rabbis. Researchers said this indicates the need to train Orthodox rabbis to recognize mental illness and understand that proper treatment can help.
Pulverente MONUMENT CO.
August 20, 2010
Conversion (not by desire) to Judaism
SPARKS FROM THE WORD by RABBI MYER S. KRIPKE Parashat Ki Tetzei In our Sidrah, the Torah yields to the male appetite (shall we say to be honest the male lust?), but with very powerful restrictions. The Torah pictures a situation where a man, among the victorious Israelite, sees a very beautiful woman
among the captives, and lusts after her. Here the Torah brings in powerful restrictions: Although he may take her into his house, he is not to touch her for 30 days. This gives her time to adjust to her new situation. She will see her father and mother never again. They are among the “enemy,” people that have just been conquered. She is now an Israelite. Now he may take her, but not as a “one night stand” or even as a “live in girlfriend,” but only as a WIFE, with all the rights and privileges of a wife. Thus the Torah sharply curbs the male lust. Thus the Torah has accepted reality, but with powerful moral demands.
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Survivors fill in the gaps on family medical history by SUZANNE KURTZ For Atkin, the testing not only proved helpful for WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A crucial question that doc- determining her course of treatment, but also for the tors routinely ask patients left Rifky Atkin speechless. other women in her family. Diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer, Atkin was “I could now pass on to my identical twin sister, and exploring treatment options when her surgeon asked, my daughters, some of the history that had been erased “Is there a family history when my grandparents of breast cancer in your perished in the family?” Holocaust,” said Atkin, The mother of four 51, and cancer-free for from Edison, N.J., stam13 years. mered, “I don’t know However, “genetic testand I’ll never know.” ing has its limitations,” Her parents survived said Schonberger. A negAuschwitz as teenagers, ative test result comshe explained, but not bined with a lack of famtheir parents. Her four ily medical history can grandparents were killed leave a woman with no in the death camp, taking real sense of her breast with them all knowledge cancer risk, she warned. of the family medical hisAnd to the surprise of Rifky Atkin, left, with her mother, Ethel, and twin sister, Chavie, most women, she added, tory. “Not being able to told a Sharsheret teleconference of the difficulty about not know- only 5 to 10 percent of Credit: Sharsheret breast cancer is inherited. know the medical history ing her medical past. beyond one generation above me underscored the “Ninety to 95 percent [is] sporadic, the result of the importance of knowing that history,” Atkin told more interaction of mostly unknown environmental factors than 100 participants during a teleconference and webi- and the specific individual make-up of the woman,” nar last month hosted by Sharsheret Schonberger said. [http://www.sharsheret.org/], a national nonprofit An Israeli study published late last year in The Journal group providing services and support for young Jewish of the National Cancer Institute found that Jewish surwomen and their families facing breast cancer. vivors of Nazi-occupied Europe were at a higher risk of To better understand the effects of the Holocaust on developing certain types of cancers -- like breast cancer breast cancer today, Sharsheret organized the free, hour- - possibly due to an early exposure to environmental faclong program to address the concerns of breast cancer tors. Those factors include severe, sustained malnutrisurvivors and Holocaust survivors. tion; prolonged psychological stress; and exposure to Even the term “survivor” has deep meaning for both the elements and infectious diseases. groups, said Elana Silber, director of operations for The younger the individuals when exposed to these Sharsheret. extreme conditions, the more likely they were to devel“In the cancer community, the word ‘survivor’ is one op cancer later in life, said Dr. Lital Keinan-Boker, a commonly associated with men and woman diagnosed researcher from the University of Haifa, who published with cancer who valiantly fight the battle for survival,” the study with several colleagues. Silber said. “In the Jewish community, however, the “The results of this study extend beyond the Jewish word ‘survivor’ has traditionally been reserved for those community, with broader implications for the breast who survived the horrors of World War II and the cancer community at-large, [by addressing] how much Holocaust. For the Jewish cancer survivor, the term of breast cancer is shaped by our life circumstances and ‘survivor’ can be troubling.” how much is shaped by genetics,” Silber said. Gaps in family medical history can sometimes be filled Still further investigation is needed, Keinan-Boker said by genetic testing and is one way to gather valuable infor- during the teleconference, “and the sooner the better. mation lost in the Holocaust, said Niecee Schonberger, a Time is a factor here.” cancer genetics counselor with Sharsheret. Ellen Eisen, a breast cancer survivor and oncology “Genetic testing is important to rule out or rule in a social worker in Memphis, Tenn., gathered nearly a [gene] mutation,” she said, but it is also important to dozen people in her synagogue sanctuary to take in the understand that “mutations don’t cause cancer; they Sharsheret program by Skype. As a Sharsheret volunteer, cause a predisposition for cancer.” Eisen said she likes to connect with other Jewish women Inherited breast cancer is largely due to mutations in dealing with breast cancer, but the universality of the two genes that control cell growth, BRCA-1 and disease resonates with her as well. BRCA-2, said Schonberger. With more than 1,000 pos“A woman is a woman is a woman,” said Eisen, 59. sible mutations known today, certain mutations are “Yet what could be more poignant than talking about more common among Jews of Ashkenazi descent. breast cancer as another consequence of the Holocaust.”
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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
August 20, 2010
Bedouin demolitions are raising tensions in Israeli land dispute by MARCY OSTER how the Israeli people would react. “Destroying their homes and pushing them into the JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A standoff between the Israeli “There is a deep lack of knowledge about the crowded and poor Bedouin cities creates a much more government and an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Bedouins and their historic presence on the land on the severe political and social problem than the danger of Negev Desert is raising tensions over land rights in side of the Jewish population in Israel,” Dloomy said. the Bedouin living on state lands,” the editorial said. southern Israel. During the demolitions at Village residents are Al-Arakib, some critics sugrebuilding their homes for gested that the state wanted the third time in as many to clear the area for the weeks after their demolition Jewish National Fund to Tuesday by Israeli authoriplant a forest at the site. ties. JNF denied the claim, issuIn the first demolition ing a statement last week order carried out July 27, saying it “was not involved some 1,300 police escorted in this operation and has no Israel Lands Administration link to the subject of evacuofficials into the unofficial ating Bedouin soldiers village of Al-Arakib before whatsoever.” dawn, removing the area’s The organization plants 300 residents before razing forests throughout the 45 structures, including country under a master homes and chicken coops. plan of the Israeli governResidents rebuilt their ment, a JNF spokeswoman homes and the police told JTA. returned -- twice. JNF’s Blueprint Negev, a The government says the plan to bring about Bedouin are occupying the 250,000 Israelis to live in land illegally; the Bedouin the Negev by 2013, also is refused the government’s raising funds to benefit the offer to let them stay as local Bedouin population. renters. Among the sites planned is Among the Bedouin of the Abu Basma Regional the Negev, the demolitions Council Complex/Medical are stirring anger. Center, to be built on land “These demolitions will A Bedouin boy helps to rebuild the family tent in the unofficial village of Al-Arakib in the Negev Desert after it was demol- donated by JNF, as well as Credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90/JTA parks and water supply and lead to an intifada in the ished by Israeli authorities. Negev,” Bedouin and Israeli Arab Knesset member “Most of the Jewish Israelis view this conflict as a zero- treatment projects. Talab El-Sana told reporters as he barricaded himself in sum game, while we think there is a place for everybody After the demolitions of recent weeks, Bedouin leadone of the structures that ultimately was demolished. -- Jews and Arabs -- in the Negev.” ers warned that the government is doing serious harm The demolitions are the result of a dispute between In an editorial http://www.haaretz.com/print-edi- to its relations with the community. the Bedouin and the Israeli government over rights to tion/opinion/displacing-the-bedouin-1.306645 “The attempt to uproot Bedouin citizens from their specific lands in the Negev comprising about 8,500 criticizing the government for demolishing the homes settlements constitutes a serious insult to all Bedouin,” acres and 30,000 Bedouin. The Bedouin say the area at Al-Arakib, Israel’s daily Haaretz called the Bedouin said the Committee of Al-Arakib. “All attempts to has been in their families for generations, even if it has “the children of the Negev.” uproot the residents of the village will fail in the end.” never been formally registered with the government. The Israeli government says the Bedouin are new to the land. Balancing Bedouin claims to the land and their nomadic lifestyle against the needs of the modern Israeli state has never been easy in the Negev, where the Bedouin compete for space with Israeli military training zones, towns and agricultural zones. For decades, Israel has tried to get the Bedouin to settle down in organized towns the state established for them. Approximately 155,000 Bedouin live in the Negev, 60 percent in the seven permanent towns the government created between 1979 and 1982, according to the Israel Lands Administration. The remainder live in homes and shanties scattered about the Negev. It is these Bedouin who frequently run up against government enforcers. Israel has plans to build 13 new villages in consultation with Bedouin representatives to house these Bedouin, according to the ILA. Most skilled nursing facilities offer the basics in care and comfort. Approximately 150 to 200 Bedouin structures of the That’s a reasonable expectation for every resident...and rightfully so. 40,000 considered illegal by the Israeli government are But our skilled nursing and rehabilitation center goes beyond what’s torn down each year. required. Way beyond. The flare-up at Al-Arakib is the latest in a series of similar incidents since 1998, when the ILA says the Providing an environment of compassion, encouragement and Bedouin began to enter the area under dispute. The vilsecurity that takes care to an entirely new level. lage has been the subject of cases in the Supreme Court, which ruled that the Bedouins’ residence at Al-Arakib It’s what you’d expect from St. Joseph Villa. was illegal. Above & Beyond The ILA offered the Bedouin a deal under which they would rent the land at the nominal fee of about $2 an acre, which they refused to pay. The ILA received a court order in 2003 to evacuate and demolish the homes in the village. Many of the residents of Al-Arakib also have permanent homes in one of the Bedouin towns, Rahat, where their children are registered in schools, according to Ortal Sabar, an ILA spokeswoman. Yeela Raanan, spokeswoman for the Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages, told Human Rights Watch that only a few dozen Al-Arakib residents have other homes and that “there are at least 250 people now who don’t have another option.” Some Al-Arakib residents reportedly also have individual land claims pending in Beersheba District Court. Ariel Dloomy, projects director for the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace Development, says he 2305 South 10th Street believes that in the wake of Al-Arakib there will be more demolitions of Bedouin settlements. He said the wholeOmaha, Nebraska 68108 sale demolition of Al-Arakib was a trial balloon to see 402-345-5683